A-Maze-Ing Emergency Exit
by I.C. Weener
Summary: Like a fish out of water.


" _At first I thought, why me? I was told the fate of the world depended on me, but how? But if it's for Kazu, then I will!"_

\- My HiME

" _Well, you know what they say about discretion and valor."_

\- ViPER

* * *

Mipha was starting to think this wasn't such a great idea. She watched Calamity Ganon slowly grow through the sky from Vah Ruta's cockpit, waiting for Daruk's command to fire. She was miles away from the frontlines, but seeing the Calamity loom over Castle Hyrule made her feel like she was sitting helplessly in the middle of it. Zelda was still in city, along with her father and his royal guard. And Link.

All of the ancient writings said this was exactly how Ganon was meant to be defeated, so why couldn't she shake the feeling that she was doing something wrong? She stood at Ruta's control altar as the seconds ticked by, constantly struggling to balance ten thousand years of prophecy with her own timid feelings. Then the scales started to tip.

Mipha slowly backed away from Ruta's main control terminal and made her way for the temple's closest archway to the outside. She felt like a traitor abandoning her post.

The audio signals of the other three Champions cracked over Ruta's terminals and washed through her walls like ghostly echoes, making Mipha's regret grow even worse.

" _Hey, what's gotten into Princess Jellyfish down there?"_ Revali asked.

" _Last minute stage fright?"_ Daruk suggested with an uplifting chuckle. _"Mipha, c'mon, kiddo! Ruta's a big girl! She'll keep you safe!"_

" _No, she senses something,"_ Urbosa said in a foreboding voice. _"This isn't right. I only get like this when I know Zelda's in trouble…"_

"I need to check on Link!" Mipha shouted back. She was already halfway out of the shrine. "I-I'll come back as soon as I can!"

She would have thought of better parting words if she had known the truth back then. Just as she was passing through the doorway that separated Ruta's armored confines from Hyrule's open air, she thought she could hear Urbosa softly say " _Good luck, princess_."

As soon as she was on the outside deck, she was standing over one of the Beast's massive water drains that spilled a hundred meters straight down into the lake below. She leapt into the current like her life was depending on it, using the prongs of her trident to channel the rapids into three smooth waves and make her descent faster. She didn't know if she was going to be remembered as a hero or a coward for what she was doing. She didn't know if history would call her selfish or selfless. None of that mattered now. All she knew was Link needed her.

She landed deep in the lake and resurfaced to catch her breath. That moment, something horrible reflected in the ripples of the water.

Mipha stared up to see a million black falling stars screaming through the sky. They were spreading out from the swirling clouds that formed Calamity Ganon and reaching across every corner of Hyrule like an infectious spider's web.

One of the four largest globs of Malice struck Ruta on her head. Instantly, she turned red with rage and began moving completely on her own. She slowly steered away from Castle Hyrule and toward the rest of the Lanryu region, screaming with her trumpet like a drowned banshee. Mipha's eyes widened with terror.

She knew all of her Divine Beast's abilities better than anyone. She imagined the catastrophic rampage an out-of-control Ruta could lay on Zora's Domain. Her own kingdom, where all of her people lived. Where her father and tiny Sidon stood helpless in the Beast's path.

She blocked the thoughts to the back of her mind, closing her eyes and shaking her head to clench back her tears.

 _You can have her_ , Mipha bitterly conceded in her mind. She had something even more urgent to worry about.

Mipha splashed out of the lake and sprinted straight for Central Hyrule.

* * *

Zelda sobbed over Link's lifeless body in the grass. His eyes wouldn't open. He wouldn't move no matter how much Zelda rattled him in her arms. He was hardly breathing. All of the wounds he had suffered protecting her from the madness and getting her away from Castle Town were just too much for one knight to bear.

Shells of dead Guardians were piled around them. Zelda's powers had finally awakened and begun to turn back Ganon's possessed forces, but it had been too late to save Link. Too late to save anyone close to her, it seemed. All she had left were a few of her Sheikah escorts and the hope that most of the townspeople evacuated in time.

"We have no choice," she said regretfully to her attendants. "We'll have to use the Chamber of Resurrection and wait for him to wake up. I'll use up all of my power holding back Ganon and giving him time to recover if I have to."

She looked down at the warrior in her arms, brushing the hair off of his eyelids so he could sleep more comfortably.

"I'm sorry I have to do this, Link," she sadly whispered. "I hope you'll forgive me… if you'll even remember me."

She slowly leaned toward his forehead.

" _Wait!_ " a frantic girl's voice cried out from behind them. Zelda looked over her shoulder in confusion, and saw Mipha standing a few yards away from her.

The oracle looked half-exhausted herself after running a marathon. Her ruby scales were covered in ash and dull from dehydration. She was dragging the Lightscale Trident like it was an anchor. Her Champion robe was in tatters from dodging and jumping through countless Guardian beams.

But she was still alive, and she had come with the power to heal all of Link's wounds in seconds.

* * *

 _Author's note: It's not like the Divine Beasts are actually needed to beat the game anyway._


End file.
